At a time when families break up and employment is often short-term, society is increasingly forced to operate against a background of insecurity. Insecure Times looks at how this sense of risk and instability has affected the major institutions of social life.
With examples and research taken from a range of European and North American societies today, this innovative text on contemporary society discusses such major issues as:
* the causes of social and economic insecurity
* insecurity and modern capitalism
* the role of the state
* insecurity and housing
* contemporary family life.

At a time when families break up and employment is often short-term, society is increasingly forced to operate against a background of insecurity. Insecure Times looks at how this sense of risk and instability has affected the major institutions of social life.
With examples and research taken from a range of European and North American societies today, this innovative text on contemporary society discusses such major issues as:
* the causes of social and economic insecurity
* insecurity and modern capitalism
* the role of the state
* insecurity and housing
* contemporary family life.

Work and Idleness develops the view that redistributing employment is a `feasible capitalist' solution, not just to the unemployment which particular groups suffer, but also to the work that others have to contend with, including many women. Putting the redistribution of employment on the policy agenda opens up debate on how to ensure a more equitable and fulfilling relationship between the ways we gain our livelihoods and the lives we lead. Growing insecurity in labour markets and changing patterns in the commodification of labour have led to a redistribution of paid and unpaid labour time as the structure of power relations, the gender order, discrimination, and state regulation have been modified. The first main trend affecting insecurity is mass unemployment and the growth of workless households. A second notable trend is a gender-based redistribution of hours worked. The third major trend is a shift from full-time waged work to full-time self-employment. Part I of this book presents the main economic theories driving the continuing divide between the intensification of work and the extension of idleness. Part II documents the ways in which the shift to mass idleness in advanced industrial countries has hit some groups particularly hard: the youngest and oldest age groups and other groups, including disabled workers, have traditionally been subject to discrimination in the labor markets. Part III provides a set of policy prescriptions.

Young men choosing a traditional working career 189 Young women making modern choices 191 The struggles of young men versus the success of young women 192 CONCLUSIONS Changing economies, changing households 195 Jane Wheelock and Age Mariussen Summing up 195 Institutional comparisons: empirical analysis 197 Theoretical implications 201 Policy implications 204 Bibliography 207 Index 231 ix ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1. 1 Institutional change as a theme in economics and sociology 15 1. 2 The household in the total economy 28 2. 1 The household in the production, reproduction and consumption cloverleaf 39 10. 1 Characteristics of the two extreme groups of farmers, 'sceptics' and 'radicals' 155 11. 1 Flexibility in the family economic unit 161 Tables ILl Changing employment structure in Wearside and Mo i Rana, selected years 67 11. 2 Employment change comparisons, Wearside!Great Britain and Mo i Rana/Norway, selected years 68 11. 3 Major industrial sectors, Wearside and Mo i Rana, selected years 69 11. 4 Employment in Wearside and Mo i Rana: gender and part-time! full-time breakdown, selected years 70 The degree of change in the organisation of household work 7. 1 116 Economic status categories and family succession 10. 1 150 12. 1 Economic position of young adults (16-29) in Newcastle 176 12.

Work and Idleness develops the view that redistributing employment is a feasible capitalist' solution, not just to the unemployment which particular groups suffer, but also to the work that others have to contend with, including many women. Putting the redistribution of employment on the policy agenda opens up debate on how to ensure a more equitable and fulfilling relationship between the ways we gain our livelihoods and the lives we lead. Growing insecurity in labour markets and changing patterns in the commodification of labour have led to a redistribution of paid and unpaid labour time as the structure of power relations, the gender order, discrimination, and state regulation have been modified. The first main trend affecting insecurity is mass unemployment and the growth of workless households. A second notable trend is a gender-based redistribution of hours worked. The third major trend is a shift from full-time waged work to full-time self-employment. Part I of this book presents the main economic theories driving the continuing divide between the intensification of work and the extension of idleness. Part II documents the ways in which the shift to mass idleness in advanced industrial countries has hit some groups particularly hard: the youngest and oldest age groups and other groups, including disabled workers, have traditionally been subject to discrimination in the labor markets. Part III provides a set of policy prescriptions.

Young men choosing a traditional working career 189 Young women making modern choices 191 The struggles of young men versus the success of young women 192 CONCLUSIONS Changing economies, changing households 195 Jane Wheelock and Age Mariussen Summing up 195 Institutional comparisons: empirical analysis 197 Theoretical implications 201 Policy implications 204 Bibliography 207 Index 231 ix ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1. 1 Institutional change as a theme in economics and sociology 15 1. 2 The household in the total economy 28 2. 1 The household in the production, reproduction and consumption cloverleaf 39 10. 1 Characteristics of the two extreme groups of farmers, 'sceptics' and 'radicals' 155 11. 1 Flexibility in the family economic unit 161 Tables ILl Changing employment structure in Wearside and Mo i Rana, selected years 67 11. 2 Employment change comparisons, Wearside!Great Britain and Mo i Rana/Norway, selected years 68 11. 3 Major industrial sectors, Wearside and Mo i Rana, selected years 69 11. 4 Employment in Wearside and Mo i Rana: gender and part-time! full-time breakdown, selected years 70 The degree of change in the organisation of household work 7. 1 116 Economic status categories and family succession 10. 1 150 12. 1 Economic position of young adults (16-29) in Newcastle 176 12.